A Commando in King Yami's Court
by D.L. SchizoAuthoress
Summary: full summary in fic Bakura and Tristan are from the future. They accidentally end up in medieval times, where King Yami and Queen Mai rule. [ON HIATUS]
1. Part One

"A Commando in King Yami's Court"  
  
a yu-gi-oh fic by SchizoAuthoress  
  
Story Summary: Dr. Bakura Ryou is a scientist from the future. He's got a plan to stop a nuclear disaster that occurred in the early twenty-first century, and he takes the cyborg Captain Tristan along to help him. For some reason, they end up in medieval times where Bakura is confused with the resident evil sorcerer. With their only way to get back to their home- time destroyed by a knight's trained dragon, they must find a way to defeat the evil sorcerer and recover the court wizard's source of power.  
  
A/N: The roles that the characters play are based on their favorite cards. If the character's favorite card doesn't match up with what the series says, then it's my own opinion. Anyway. . .  
  
Yami-- The King, because he used to be a pharaoh or something  
  
Yugi-- The court wizard, sort of a Merlin-archtype. Dark Magician.  
  
Joey-- an Elemental knight (Sir Joseph of Salamandron). Flame Swordsman, Salamandron, Kunai with Chain.  
  
Taea (looks nicer to me spelled this way) -- a wandering sorceress. Magician of Faith.  
  
Seto-- an unorthodox knight-errant (Sir Seto of Kaiba, he trains dragons instead of slaying them). Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Sagi the Dark Clown.  
  
Mai-- The Queen, after all, she was a champion in the video-game arc. Harpy Lady (she likes recreational hunting with hawks. . .anyone know what this is called? Something like "falconing" I believe).  
  
Bakura-- A scientist who wants to change the past to save his home-time. Change of Heart.  
  
Tristan-- Cyborg military captain who accompanies Bakura. Cyber Commando. [?]  
  
The specialized punctuation in this story:  
  
"dialogue"  
  
word "sound"word.  
  
~thoughts~  
  
::spell/magic card::  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
A Commando in King Yami's Court  
  
Part One: Those Funny But Usually Unimportant "Confused Locals" Scenes That Start All Time-Travel Movies  
  
A peaceful countryside with lush green hills, sprinkled liberally with blue-and-white wildflowers suddenly crackled with electricity. A low, sonorous "boom" echoed through the field. A sphere that seemed to be made of light flashed, then vanished almost instantaneously.  
  
Two men stood in the scorched-out circle where the sphere had touched down. Both were clad in outfits acceptable to late-20th or early-21st century times.  
  
The shorter man had his long, white-blond hair tied back in a ponytail, and he blinked to adjust his dark brown eyes to his surroundings. He wore a white dress shirt, a cream-colored sweater vest bordered by a light blue and a gray stripe, khaki pants and solid tan suede shoes, all topped off by a heavy khaki trenchcoat. He held a black, softball-sized ball that beeped and blinked with multicolored lights.  
  
His companion was quite a bit taller than he was. An angled crewcut of his dark hair and black aviator-like sunglasses dominated the tall man's impassive face. He wore all black, including his trenchcoat and knuckle gloves. The fingertips on his right hand gleamed in a dully-metallic way, as if they were made of lead.  
  
The man in all black said quietly, "I detect minimal air-pollution, mostly wood smoke. As far as I can tell, there is no nuclear poisoning in this area." He turned to the blond, "I don't think this is 2034, Dr. Ryou."  
  
Dr. Ryou was fiddling with the black orb he held as he said testily, "Yes, I noticed. I need a little time to recalibrate the Space-Time Control Module." A flat panel, almost like a CD-drive, popped out of the sphere, and Dr. Ryou pressed special codes into the buttons located there. More gently, he reminded his companion, "Tristan, I thought we agreed that there was no need to be formal on this mission. You know that you can call me Bakura."  
  
Tristan had his back to Bakura, scanning the area. The lenses of his sunglasses had turned a dark, jewel-like green. "I'll do that, Dr. Bakura."  
  
Bakura smiled distantly, still more engrossed in his Control Module than in the conversation. "Just 'Bakura,' please."  
  
"I've got biolog*," Tristan reported, "Four of them. Two are at a reasonable distance, but two are approaching this area with considerable rapidity." He turned back to Bakura. "Bakura, one of them isn't human." *(abbreviation for "biological unit," AKA something alive)  
  
Bakura said softly, "It's probably a horse or a dog." He finished, and the black ball went dark. "In about half an hour, the Time-Space Control Module will activate and get us to 2034."  
  
"That's good, sir, but. . .I've cross-scanned this unknown biolog with all the DNA codes I've got. There's no match."  
  
Bakura looked worried, but his tone was lightly facetious. "Maybe you're reading an animal without the genetic mutations of our time. Even an advanced military-intelligence officer such as yourself can make a mistake."  
  
"This thing isn't even *close* to--"  
  
A hiss and a "thunk" interrupted Tristan, and he stumbled forward slightly. Bakura gasped in surprise as he saw the glowing, white-hot arrow sticking out of the brunet's right shoulder. He shoved the Control Module into his trenchcoat's inner pocket and stammered, "Tr-tristan! Are.are you all right?"  
  
"Yes. Get away from here. . .head that way," Tristan growled, pointing southwest. "No one there."  
  
Bakura began to back away slowly. Tristan pulled the arrow out with a slight wince, his left glove smoking as he let the slender shaft drop to the scorched ground. Then, he whirled to face his attacker, casting off his black trenchcoat as he did so, and revealing that his entire right arm and shoulder was robotic.  
  
His sunglasses, which were in truth a computer-screen visor, had gone crimson-red. A young woman of delicate build, with long golden-brown hair to her knees and star-sapphire eyes, had appeared on the top of one of the hills. She brandished an ornate staff of some golden material at the two men and screamed,  
  
"Take that, you servant of the evil Ryo!"  
  
~This is not happening. . .~ Bakura groaned silently, ~I can't believe this.~  
  
Tristan shook his head and shouted, "I do not know who Ryo is! You've made a mistake!"  
  
"Do you think I am a fool, sycophant of the baneful one?" The young woman drew herself up majestically and pointed beyond Tristan, "I, Taea, sorceress of the Fidelitas Order, can see that your master, the evil Ryo, is right behind you! And I shall fell the beast with my ::Living Arrow::!"  
  
An arrow formed on the back of her hand, and flew in a blur of speed toward Bakura. It glowed with white heat and, if it struck the scientist, would surely be deadly.  
  
Tristan was suddenly in front of Bakura, moving so quickly that for a split second he appeared to be in two places at once. He hit the arrow out of flight, acid yellow sparks flying with the contact. The cyborg went down on one knee, a dark red fluid seeping from the section of his robotic arm rent by the arrow.  
  
"Get out of here, doctor." Tristan ordered. He paused to target the 'Taea' person, and shot a set of bolas at her.  
  
The girl went down with a shriek of outrage, her lavender robes tangled and twisted among the steel cords of the bolas. A floating furball suddenly flew at Tristan, screeching horribly.  
  
"Karribo!" Taea cried, "Come help me!"  
  
Bakura helped Tristan to his feet. They shared a look that meant they clearly agreed that it was time to get out of that field.  
  
END PART ONE 


	2. Part Two

Story Summary: Dr. Bakura Ryou is a scientist from the future. He's got a plan to stop a nuclear disaster that occurred in the early twenty-first century, and he takes the cyborg Captain Tristan along to help him. For some reason, they end up in medieval times where Bakura is confused with the resident evil sorcerer. With their only way to get back to their home-time destroyed by a knight's trained dragon, they must find a way to defeat the evil sorcerer and recover the court wizard's source of power.  
  
A/N: Much love to Ryan-Ookami, whose Jou-centric "Fierce Child" rocks! Read it, it's infinitely better than mine, the perfect mix of angst, violence, and fluff, with hints of shonen-ai.  
Note that I really don't know whether Taea has a Karribo in her deck or not, I just decide to stick together the two characters who annoy me the most. If you are ever confused, refer to the character guide in the first chapter.  
  
The specialized punctuation in this story:  
"dialogue"  
word "sound" word.  
~thoughts~  
::spell/magic card::  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
"A Commando in King Yami's Court"  
Part Two: In Which the Local Musclehead of the Time Period is Stupid and Destroys the Time-Machine  
or  
Why Did You Make the Damn Thing So Fragile?!  
  
They stopped running at the edge of a forest, and Bakura practically collapsed, flopping against a tree trunk like a rag doll and gasping, "I am so out of shape for this."  
  
"You don't exercise?" Tristan asked, chipping away at the now-dried fluid which had bled from his mechanical arm. The metal revealed beneath the reddish-black material was shiny and new.  
  
Bakura glared at him, massaging the cramp in his side. "I'm a scientist, not a marathon-runner, Tristan."  
  
Tristan chuckled. His arm began to whirl and click, independently running check-ups on itself without his mental command. He looked at the scientist and asked, "Do you ever watch mid-20th vids?"  
  
"Yes, why?"  
  
A smile slowly formed on Tristan's face, as if he had forgotten how to make such an expression. "In the original series of Star Trek, one of the signature lines of DeForrest Kelly is, 'Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor not a miracle-worker,' or whatever. Just wondering if you'd ever seen it."  
  
Bakura looked at him with curiosity. "No, I don't think I've ever see Star Trek. Star Wars, yes. But where did you...?"  
  
Tristan took off his glasses. Beneath them, his eyes were the same shade of dark brown that Bakura's were. A faintly nostalgic look was on his face as he answered the unfinished question. "I don't remember much of anything. Just stupid things like the vids I used to watch as a kid, playing and then training in the zero-G sector of the space-colony I grew up in. But I used to be a person, you know...until the Andromedan attack on Terra-Base Luna, when neuro-scientists went digging through the rubble to find survivors like me." He glanced at Bakura almost apprehensively and said quickly, "Don't get me wrong. If not for those guys, I'd be dead. But being more machine than human...sometimes I think that maybe it would have been better if I'd died."  
  
Bakura was quiet. He took out the Control Module again and consulted it. "Five minutes left."  
  
"Good." Tristan slipped his glasses back on and commenced to scan the area. There was definite concern in his voice as he said, "Bakura, remember those two biolog from before, the ones who were supposedly at a safe distance?"  
  
"Yes?" Bakura asked apprehensively.  
  
"Well, I'm fairly certain that if you look up, you'll be able to see what appears to be a large flying lizard. It's got a similar signal to that floating Car-eebo biolog from earlier. A human is with it."  
  
Bakura stared up at the sky and choked out some exclamation of surprise, what it was, he wasn't sure, he was too much in shock to register it. ~How can he be so...calm about this? A 'large flying lizard,' my ass! That's a damned dragon!~  
  
Said dragon landed a short distance away from them, and a knight swung off its back. The knight was clad in silver chain mail and leather dyed dark blue. He carried a blade in one hand, keeping the other resting on the dragon's silvery-white flank.  
  
"What have you done to Sorceress Taea, evil one?" The knight demanded. Tristan shrugged casually and replied,   
  
"Immobilized her. I'm sure that you were kind enough to set her free, and also that you could see she suffered no ill effects besides any that she may have incurred in her fall due to loss of balance."  
  
"Sir Seto of Kaiba, the Dragon-rider, does not address you, minion!" The knight sneered coldly.  
  
Tristan lifted his lip in a similar expression and spat back, "And Captain Tristan Taylor, the cyborg, is getting quite annoyed with everyone calling him a minion! Why don't you go back to saving damsels in distress, dragon-boy?"  
  
"Four minutes," Bakura whispered. Sir Seto took a step toward the scientist.  
  
"Until what, warlock? Shall you destroy the kingdom of Yami and Mai with that orb in your hands?" Tristan moved between the two.  
  
"You're really starting to piss me off. Get going before I make you get going."  
  
Seto backed up. A secretive smile played on his lips as he replied, "Certainly, 'captain.' As soon as I destroy all threats to King Yami's realm."  
  
Apparently, Seto was tired of using a plain old normal scabbard for his sword's sheath, because he decided then and there that Tristan's chest was a much better place in which to slam his sword up to the hilt. There was the terrible screech of metal on metal, and Tristan fell with a loud "thud" to the ground.  
  
Bakura jumped out of Seto's reach and stuck a hand into his trenchcoat. The Control Module fell from his grasp and bounced gently to a halt on the soft turf, unharmed. The scientist was now holding a small taser-gun, aimed directly at his target.  
  
"Always be prepared," he said in response to the knight's shocked look as he felled the tall man with a fierce kick to the midsection and shot a bolt of electricity into the eyes of the dragon. The dragon gave voice to a horrid, inhuman howl and went for a nice trample of destruction in the immediate vicinity.  
  
Bakura gasped with horror when he realized that he no longer held the Module. He gave yet another gasp of even greater horror when he realized where the Module was. And then he dived to save it from being crushed by the blinded dragon.  
  
He rolled away, the Module clutched safely in both hands. Two more minutes.  
  
Tristan yanked the sword out of his body and staggered to his feet, just barely avoiding a stomp which no doubt greatly exceeded his level of endurance and recuperative capabilities. There was just one thought in his mental processor, ~Protect Dr. Bakura.~  
  
However, in his current state, he couldn't move fast enough to prevent Sir Seto the Dragon-rider from jumping Bakura and wrestling the Contol Module from the blond man's death-grip of a hold. And he just couldn't prevent the questionably sane man from flinging the Module to the ground in a shower of metal, veneer, and circuitry.  
  
He could, though, give Sir Seto a punch to the face that his grandchildren were going to feel. And that's just what he did.  
****  
Seto was sprawled on the ground in obvious unconsciousness. The dragon, surprisingly enough, changed into a light-blue gecko-like lizard and cuddled up to him in fear. Even a vicious beast like a dragon knows when to stop fighting, especially when to do so will have you end up bruised and beaten for the next month.  
  
This, though, was no comfort to Dr. Bakura Ryou. Bakura, after his short stint as a heroic sort of character, dissolved into unashamed tears of rage and frustration at the state of affairs they were left with. Tristan really wasn't programmed to deal with such situations, so he leaned against one of the surviving trees and concentrated on recuperating.  
  
Neither of them had any idea as to what to do. So they would wait until the knight regained consciousness and see what came of that.  
END PART TWO 


	3. Part Three

Story Summary: Dr. Bakura Ryou is a scientist from the future. He's got a plan to stop a nuclear disaster that occurred in the early twenty-first century, and he takes the cyborg Captain Tristan along to help him. For some reason, they end up in medieval times where Bakura is confused with the resident evil sorcerer. With their only way to get back to their home-time destroyed by a knight's trained dragon, they must find a way to defeat the evil sorcerer and recover the court wizard's source of power.  
  
A/N: Sorry if the Star Trek talk in the previous chapter weirded anybody out. I'm a slight Trekkie, and *only* for the original series ("The Wrath of Khan" is my favorite ST movie). But that's not the point. As you may have observed, I'm trimming down the notes, so I can save myself from being incredibly repetitive, and also because I know that my readers have intelligence levels high enough to remember a lot of my dumb lists and stuff. Not a lot of action in this chapter, but soon! A mini-quest will take over for the next couple of parts after this one, just wait and see!  
  
Schiz's Shout-Outs:  
Wow! This is the first time one of my fics has really had a good surge of popularity, lots of positive reviews in so short a time...  
Ryan-Ookami--Advertisement for you anytime, Ryan-chan. I love the titles, too. You keep writing now, or I'll deprive you of more chapters of this fic. (Yesh, and I knew *someone* would take Seto 'jumping' Bakura in the wrong sense of jumping. Rereading it, I can see why. ::grin::)  
Magicman/Smokegirl--Joseph v. Seto? I'll probably do that, but definitely not for the hand of Sorceress Taea. Hilarious idea, tho. You're welcome to write about it.  
Reyana Draconis--It gets even more twisted later.  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
"A Commando in King Yami's Court"  
Part Three: The Motives of the Time-Travellers Are Detailed in a Handy Flashback  
  
Bakura sniffled and dried his tears. It wasn't that he cried easily or anything, but you try being stuck thousands of years in the past with no way to get home and not feel soul-crushing despair.   
  
Perhaps that was an exaggeration. But it was terribly frustrating, and Bakura was possessed by an odd, homocidal urge every time he beheld the damned idiotic knight who had trapped him in this totally backward time-period.  
  
The blond glanced over at Tristan, who was in a state that might be classified as comatose, if it was a normal human being we were talking about. But Bakura knew, though nanotechnology and human cybernetics were not his field, that the man-machine hybrid was merely in an intense stage of the regeneration process.   
  
Bakura's field of expertise was quantum physics, more specifically pure science applied to quantum physics influenced by existentialist thought. In the vernacular, attempting to make theoretic time-travel a reality. He supposed that he really could be thought of as an expert, now that he *had* made theoretic time-travel a reality, but without a way for him to get back and prove it, Bakura's collegues would probably assume that he and the captain had merely been phased out of their original universe of existence. Not that that wasn't also an achievement, but it was wrong! Bakura hated it when people were wrong, especially the person known as himself.  
  
~All I wanted to do was change the past and make things better for people. Was that so wrong?~ He said to himself, or perhaps to God, although Bakura normally regarded religious beliefs with proper scientific skeptisism since his brief romantic entanglement with a female anthropologist.  
****  
In the early twenty-first century, a double-nuclear disaster in western Europe and North America left the planet in a pretty shitty state of existence. The few survivors who did not suffer radiation poisoning, or those who could possibly be cured, were sent into space to live in the International Space Station (which had finally be completed after thirty years of bureaucratic delay and a few terrestrial wars). These survivors were mainly Asian, Polynesian, Antipodean, African, South American, eastern European, and Meditteranean people. A few specimens of other species were placed in cryogenic freezers and sent into space as well, for a time in the future when they could be genetically reproduced.  
  
All useful materials were sent to the Moon, designated as Terra-Base Luna, for construction of a non-Earth-based human habitat. Therefore, for the middle part of the 21st century, most of human collective energy and manpower went into making Terra-Base Luna and the Lagrange Point space colonies a reality.  
  
In the latter part of the 21st century, humans had advanced enough to send terra-forming shuttles to Mars. They had also cloned the animals sent into space with the original pioneers, and such creatures as cows, sheep, pigs, goats, monkeys, kangaroos, dingos, and even Tasmanian devils had adapted themselves to life on Terra-Base Luna.  
  
As the Space-Terrans (as they called themselves, for it was unknown if any multicellular life was still sustained by their ravaged home-planet, and any such creatures would thus be Terrans) entered the 22nd century, Mars was declared habitable, and the strongest stock of the Luna animals were transported to Mars with a large group of willing colonists. It seemed as though things were looking up for the human race.  
  
And then the aliens came.  
  
It was something straight out of 20th vids and docs (video footage and documents of the twentieth century). An army of hostile Andromedan aliens came to the pitiful cluster of Space-Terran safe points and declared war on them. The destruction of Terra-Base Luna was the first, and the most horrible, scenes of battle. For a people whose days of war were ages behind them on a dark and decimated planet, the Andromedans were an Apocalypse.  
  
That was when the famous quantum physicist Dr. Ryou proposed his plan to his collegues. Why not use their knowledge of quantum physics to attempt time travel, and if successful, stop the Cataclysm of 2034?   
  
Some argued against him, saying that it was the Cataclysm which spurred the humans into their current state of expanded settlement and scientific advancement. He countered them by saying he would tell the Terrans of 2034 of their successes in space colonization and Mars terra-forming. Therefore, Terrans would have two planets and several space colonies, and of course the INSS upon which to base their defensive capabilities against the Andromedans.  
  
It was by consensus that they chose Captain Taylor to accompany Dr. Ryou, as both proof of and an expert on the applied-sciences and military state of their time.  
****  
Tristan shook Bakura awake from where the scientist had curled up on the grass. "The knight is waking up," was all the cyborg said.  
  
Seto of Kaiba sat up and groaned, pulling his knees to his chest and resting his forehead on his knees. The dragon-gecko creature began to trill and chirp, and Bakura was struck by how similar it sounded to the recordings of Terrans birds. No Terran birds had been saved in the aftermath of the Cataclysm, simply because there had been no birds left.  
  
The dragon chirruped and Seto looked up at the two men he'd attacked earlier. "Different, you say? Obviously. That's Ryo..." A sharp trill interrupted him, and Seto's dark blue eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "He's not? He thinks strange things? What things?"  
  
Tristan looked at Bakura. "The biolog has ESP."  
  
Bakura nodded. Extra-sensory perception was a fairly common trait in the Space-Terrans, to some degree; therefore, it was not something strange to them. Bakura was a mild Esper, while Tristan's talent was stronger, though usually used in conjunction with the computerized components of his unique body systems.  
  
When the creature had finished, Seto stood up. Tristan was privately pleased to see that, while the man's jaw remained unbroken, it might be cracked, and there was definitely extensive bruising on his face and neck. The knight stared at them seriously and said, "Zafiro tells me that you think of living among the stars with the world destroyed, of dark powers. She also says that you wish to stop these dark powers from hurting your people, and that you are here by a mistake."  
  
"Yes," Bakura said quietly, "It's true. And the sphere that you destroyed earlier was the only way we had to get home."  
  
"Hm." Seto tapped his chin thoughtfully, then winced at the pain such an action caused him. "Well, I'll have to see a healer before long, but I will take you men to see King Yami. Perhaps his court-wizard, Yugi, could help you. It is an honorable quest, and I beg your forgiveness for impeding it."  
  
~Why is he being so polite?~ Bakura wondered.  
  
~He's a knight. His honor has been tarnished by stopping a good and noble effort to halt the forces of evil.~ Tristan sent to his companion. A smile accompanied his mental message as he finished, ~At least, that's what I picked up from his thoughts.~  
  
Aloud, Tristan answered, "Of course, we forgive you. Thank you, Sir Seto."  
  
Not missing a beat, Bakura echoed, "Yes, much thanks."  
  
And therefore they set out on foot toward the great capital city of King Yami's kingdom.  
  
END PART THREE 


	4. Part Four

"A Commando in King Yami's Court"  
  
A/N: I love this fic. No rules, whatever I say goes because there is no canon to reference back to! ::indulges in insane laughter:: ::is hit on the head with a brick:: Oww...ahem, moving right along...  
  
Remember, any confusion, all the charts and likewise explanatory stuff is in part one!  
  
Schiz's Shoutouts:  
I am still in shock that this fic is so damn popular, but I always appreciate the self-esteem boosts that I get from the reviews. (I've updated because I need my 'fix'! ::wink wink::)  
  
Magicman/Smokegirl-- You had to expect the duel between Joey and Seto, even if I made Joey a lowly squire (which I wouldn't, I love him too much.) Yes, curse those aliens! And they *will* find Earth anyway, I mean, the planet isn't going anywhere. They might still attack, but Bakura is basically a very empathetic soul...remember, there are no real birds in the future, and that is a very sad thing for him. Bakura wants to give the other creatures that humankind doomed another chance, as well as the people themselves.  
Jaid Skywalker-- I'm cool! ::hands out cookies:: I love my reviewers!  
Ryan-Ookami--You're great. I'm glad somebody likes my fic so much...the title on this part is *huge,* but I had to make it so.  
****  
"A Commando in King Yami's Court"  
Part Four: In Which The Time Travellers Get Roped into Going on a Scary Quest for the Egotist in Charge,   
And Introducing...the Evil Mastermind We've Heard so Much Complaining About  
  
The odd band of travellers arrived at the great palace of King Yami after about five days of military-level hard marching. Bakura was still horridly out of shape for such physical activity, but since they had met up with Sorceress Taea and convinced her of the good doctor's non-evilness, the Fidelitas practitioner had placed refreshment charms on them all. Tristan had protested in vain that such a measure performed upon him would be a waste of effort, as he really didn't need any help with a simple stroll through forest and field. The cyborg had been in charge of a small company of Space-Terrans fighting the Andromedans on the northern Mars Ice-cap; in his opinion, that was infinitely worse than anything he'd face on this relatively peaceful, unspoiled Earth.  
  
The first person they met was a small lady with long red hair and soft brown eyes, a girl of indeterminate age with an air of solemnity around her. She stood and faced them, then spread her skirts in a low curtsy and said gravely, "Speak, travellers, that I might know who to announce to the king."  
  
"Lady Serenity," Taea replied, "It is I, Sorceress Taea, with Sir Seto of Kaiba and two strangers."  
  
"Let them tell me their names."   
  
Bakura had been observing the girl closely. He noticed that she did not blink, nor did she look directly at the sorceress to whom she spoke. ~Why, this girl is blind!~ He realized. To her he said, "I am Doctor Bakura Ryou."  
  
She nodded. "The other?"  
  
The cyborg answered, "Captain Tristan Taylor."  
  
Lady Serenity pronounced, "Now I know your voices, to learn all the better the more you are here. And, Sir Seto, I have not yet heard your voice, which I have sorely missed while you were away."  
  
Seto smiled and touched her hand lovingly. "Do not let your brother hear you say such things, my dear lady, for he is the protective sort."  
  
Serenity smiled back and sighed, "Ah, this I know full well!"  
  
Taea hid a smile with one hand. Bakura stifled a laugh, and Tristan privately wondered whether that hit hadn't knocked a few screws loose in Sir Seto's head. But Taea whispered behind her hand, "The Lord of Kaiba is hopelessly in love with the Lady of Salamandron. And here comes Sir Joseph, the fun begins..."  
  
"Kaiba! What business do you have harrassing my sister?" This demand came from a man equal in height to Tristan, dressed in a coat of iron-studded leather with matching boots. He brushed his shaggy blonde hair out of golden-brown eyes and glared at the blue-eyed knight.  
  
Angrily, Sir Seto shot back, "Ask the lady and she'll tell you that I've done no such thing, you mad dog!"  
  
"Mad dog, yet again?" Sir Joseph dropped a hand to the formidable sword that hung at his side. His eyes were alight with indignation as he snarled, "Your insults and wrongs to my family remain the same, Kaiba. Once more, and I shall be forced to challenge you."  
  
"Forced, yes," Seto acknowledged, "but only because you know that you cannot face me and hope to win."  
  
Bakura was nearly convinced that Sir Joseph would have drawn his sword and cut out Seto's heart had Serenity not placed a restraining grip over the hand on his weapon. The pretty court-lady begged, "Dear brother, do not take to heart the rash words of Sir Seto. You have no cause to duel over me."  
  
The blond knight's resolve wavered, and finally, he nodded, saying aloud for his sister's benefit, "I heed your counsel, Serenity. But my warning still stands." He then turned and strode into the palace courtyard.   
  
Once sure that he was gone, Serenity turned around and slapped Seto's arm in mock-punishment. "And you! You know there is no need to provoke my brother so. You say it yourself, Seto, he is protective of me!"  
  
With a surly scowl, Seto answered, "He provokes me in equal measure, my lady! Acting as though I am unfit to speak to you..."  
  
"Do not frown," the lady replied, more gently, "it makes your face look so hard and unattractive."  
  
Bakura was slightly surprised at the almost normal way Serenity interacted with familiar people, dropping the solemnity that characterized her demeanor around strangers. But he guessed that Serenity could infer expressions from the tone of a speaker's voice, and that she had probably, at one time, either been able to see or had asked one of her servants to make such an expression so that she could feel how it looked.   
  
"Well, my lady," Taea said conversationally, "we shall just be going into the castle now, seeing as your hot-headed brother has announced the presence of Sir Seto already with his anger."  
  
Serenity nodded and was led back to her seat by the sorceress. "Yes, it is common knowledge that when Joseph goes storming about, Seto is somewhere near. I've even heard Queen Mai talk of it...shameful!" The last part of her remark was louder, and aimed at the knight.   
  
Seto replied, "Take care, my lady. I must see these travellers to the throne room."  
  
Tristan finally piped up again, but mentally this time, ~Exactly what is a medieval king going to have that will help us get back to the twenty-second century?~  
  
Bakura simply shook his head, finding that to be the best answer he could come up with.  
****  
A man got down on one knee near a battle-marked area of woodland and field, running his black-gloved hands over the grass. He appeared familiar, a bit smaller and more delicate-looking than most, with shoulder-length white-blond hair, although he wore his loose. His eyes were hidden by the shadow of his bangs, but his mouth could be seen twisted into a cold smile that was just barely not a sneer.   
  
"Men with skill in the ways of technology," he muttered in a low rasp to himself, holding up a shard of circuit that Bakura had missed earlier in the scientist's attempt to clear away his effect on the past, brought to him by one of his many servants, "and thus my rivals."  
  
The man stood, brushing his black garments free of grass and dirt, and said to the seemingly empty air, "Find the one with my face and his warrior-guardian. Bring them to me in the Halls of Ryo."  
  
An inhuman cacophony of sound--screeches, chittering, and strange giggles--surrounded the black-garbed warlock. Dozens of small beasties, like Zafiro the dragon-gecko but uglier and less well-behaved, materialized to do his bidding. Ryo lifted one hand and intoned,   
  
::The breath of wind, the rush of cloud;   
All this and more you are allowed;   
To seek the ones I bid you seek;   
The warrior and my double meek;   
All speed and secrecy to you I bestow;   
And now I say to each of you, go!::  
  
Shrieks of excitement rose from the clamouring crowd as they dispersed and left Ryo alone once more.  
  
"Now, Bakura Ryou...we'll see if your powers are, as your looks, equal to mine." Ryo snickered, vanishing in a vaporous darkness, his evil laugh still ringing over the vale.  
****  
The throne room was massive, a giant stone chamber lined with all sorts of weapons, standards, and cages shrouded in colored brocade cloths. Strange sounds came from these cages, and Bakura was sure that none of the hidden animals within were normal. Tristan affirmed this with his scan of the place, mentally communicating his concern at being surrounded by unidentified alien creatures.   
  
On a raised white marble dais, carved out of massive single pieces of wood and set with myriad precious stones and metals, were huge thrones. One gleamed of gold, ruby, onyx, sapphire, and emerald. Upon this was seated a tall, slender man with strange purplish-black hair that spiked wildly, and lightining-bolt-like gold-blond bangs that partially shadowed his slanted reddish-purple eyes. An ornate diadem of gold and diamonds adorned his brow, and he was clad in the richest clothes that either of the time travellers had ever seen.   
  
At the king's left side was the second throne, set with silver, rose quartz, topaz, and turquoise, which served as the seat for a lovely woman with a gently curling waterfall of light blonde hair and pale purple eyes that glittered as coldly as the diamonds in her silver crown. She was arrayed in, if anything, an even more opulent costume than that of her king and husband.   
  
On the king's left was a small man--Bakura would have almost thought him a boy--with similar purple-black hair pulled back tightly and braided to fall somewhere near his knees. The man was dressed simply, in dark silk robes of blue that was nearly black. He was playing absently with a rope-like gold chain about his neck, and his wide, dark violet eyes were not focused on his surroundings.   
  
"Sir Seto of Kaiba," the king said gruffly, confidently. The brown-haired knight bowed low. "My knight-errant, the Dragonchaser." It was obvious that King Yami disapproved of Sir Seto's habit of keeping dragons instead of killing them. "You have brought strangers to my presence."  
  
Queen Mai was seated quite comfortably in her throne--in fact, slouching with a terrible posture--and commented lazily, "And they are the strangest of strangers that I have yet seen! One has the appearance of a half-armored knight, and the other bears an uncanny resemblance to the Dark One."  
  
"They are people of the future, people who live among the stars and battle evil forces threatening them." Seto explained. It was somewhat reassuring to have someone who believed so fully in the half-story they'd fed him, for the King and Queen exchanged glances of incredulity and their eyes took on a scornful light.  
  
"It is truth."  
  
Everyone in the room turned to look at the man on King Yami's right. He was staring straight ahead, and his violet eyes had turned a pupilless sea-green. King Yami asked gently, "And what else do you see concerning these men, Yugi?"  
  
"They are...living in strange metal places...death is outside, a dark void...and a place red as blood, windstorms and bleak deserts..." Yugi, a Magus Tenebrae, clutched his head as though in pain. Someone else was speaking through him now. "They came without warning, sir. Their weapons couldn't be defended against...and the survivors aren't exactly unharmed; your cybernet boys have hold of them now."  
  
An odd expression on Tristan's face caught Bakura's eye. The tall cyborg shook his head sharply and sent to Bakura, ~That sounds like my commanding officer from Terra Base Luna, making a report to the Colonial Council.~  
  
How could he respond to that? Bakura simply shrugged, turning his attention back to the dark-haired wizard. Another voice, this one softer and almost musical, passed his lips,  
  
"And you believe that you can save the planet from destruction? Stop the Cataclysm? It's pure speculation, doctor, tell me why we should support your plan, which in all honesty makes me doubt your sanity." Then Yugi crumpled to the ground, both hands pressed over his face, and in his normal voice asked quietly, "Strangers, do you recognize those whom have spoken?"  
  
"Yes." Bakura answered, speaking for both of them, for the second voice had been reminiscent of Dr. Marina Chatwin--the head of the science council.   
  
"Then, my king," Yugi said quietly from his position kneeling on the dais, "you must listen to them well. Many lives in a far-distant age depend upon these men."  
  
King Yami remained silent, lost in thought, for a long time. Mai seemed to have lost her interest in the whole issue, and she whistled a high note toward one of the cages. A small bird-like creature fluttered to her, but upon closer inspection, one could see that the animal was half-humanoid, a tiny bird-woman. Tristan cocked his head to one side, and his sunglasses went green again. No one had ever told him the past would be so damned strange. All these incomprehensible creatures, monstrosities by the standards of his time, and 'magic,' the illogical way that people got things done around here.   
  
Bakura had started to fidget by the time that Yugi finally commanded, "Ask, then, what you will of me, and I shall do all in my power to return you to whence you came."  
  
Tristan began to answer respectfully, "Well, your majesty--"  
  
"Names!" Mai cried suddenly, and Bakura couldn't resist the urge to roll his eyes ceiling-ward in exasperation. The gorgeous queen clasped her hands together and leaned forward. "I know not your names!"  
  
With a graceful shrug, accepting this odd quirk of the queen's, Tristan directed his attention to her and replied, "I am called Tristan, and this is Bakura, your highness."  
  
"Tristan of what? Bakura of what?"  
  
Entirely disgusted with the state of affairs and admittedly impatient to leave this feudal time behind him where it belonged, Bakura replied with considerable harshness, "Tristan of Prime Mars Colony Unit Omega and Bakura of the Fifth Lagrange Point Colony Gamma."  
  
Pale eyes blinked in surprise, and Mai murmured, "Very strange territories you have claimed, Bakura of the Fifth La Grenge Point Kolny Gamma."  
  
Deciding it would be imprudent to point out her mangling of the colony designation, Bakura nodded cooperatively and explained with a perfectly straight face, "That's why we rarely use them in introductions. But as Tristan was saying..."  
  
Tristan picked up his former thread of conversation immediately, "We wish only to return to our home time, that we may try again to acheive our mission, King Yami."  
  
Yami sighed deeply. Yugi had stood again by this time, and he answered for the king, "It is possible for me to send you back, but not without my Talisman."  
  
"Talisman?" Bakura repeated. ~Good Lord, what now?~  
  
"Aye," Seto said behind them, "Like the black ball which you used, Magus Yugi must have his Millennial Puzzle to do his work."  
  
Yugi nodded and explained, "The Puzzle is my source of power, and the focus of my abilities. With it, I would not have become so drained by that simple scrying I performed earlier."  
  
They could just walk out now, find a quiet place and attempt the impossible task of putting the Space-Time Control Module back together. But Tristan was of the simple philosophy of 'Never say die, even when you're dead,' and asked, "Well, where is it, then?"  
  
"It is in the possession of the Dark One, Ryo." Yami replied.   
  
Bakura sighed softly. Ryo, always with Ryo. Really, they could say thanks very much, walk out, and try to live in the middle ages with the unbathed masses. Bakura wouldn't complain more than three times every hour...  
  
But Tristan was already saying officiously, "I accept the mission of recovering the Millenial Puzzle."  
  
Bakura managed to keep himself from screaming in horror, but it was a hard fight.  
  
END PART FOUR 


End file.
